The Rats beat the Warriors by 29 points at Alexandra Oval, but players endured strong wind and rain throughout the match.

The Rats kicked with the breeze in the opening term and held the Warriors scoreless to lead by 38 points at the first change.

They again took advantage of the wind in the third quarter to take a 56-point lead into the final quarter, before Stawell’s four fourth quarter majors added some respectability to the final score.

Ararat coach David Hosking said there was still plenty of work to be done if the team was to contend with the league’s best.

‘‘Obviously we’re happy to get the win, but our view is that we’ve got a fair bit of improvement left in us,’’ he said.

‘‘The last quarter, they outscored us but it was hard to get a gauge out of the conditions. You’ve got to go back to basics.’’

Stawell coach Brad Cassidy said he was unhappy with his side’s performance.

‘‘Ararat performed the better throughout the four quarters,’’ he said. ‘‘I only think we performed for one quarter.

‘‘We put a couple of numbers behind the footy but when you do that you’ve still got to defend and put the pressure on.

‘‘We’ve got to focus and work hard on the track.

We’ll have to be prepared to hurt a little bit this week.’’